1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer-implemented graphics systems, and in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for automating the drawing order of entities in a computer-implemented graphics system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer-implemented graphics systems have been widely used by designers, illustrators, drafters, and engineers for a number of years. Most such graphics systems use a graphical user interface (GUI) to display graphical images, such as 2D or 3D models, schematic diagrams, photorealistic images, etc.
In many instances, the graphical images are comprised of multiple layers of multiple entities or objects, where the draw order of the entities is important to the overall composition of the graphical image. Typical systems display the entities of a drawing in the order that they were originally created. However, an ordering based on the time of creation may not be the desirable order.
For example, if a selected entity is a raster image and the other entities are vector images, the raster image may cover the vector images until the raster image is moved to the “back” of the vector images. Thus, some systems may allow for the reordering and maintenance of the draw order with the overall document. However, the manual creation, management, and maintenance of draw order can be a tedious, time-consuming, and error prone process that may reduce the productivity of a user.
There is a need in the art, then, for techniques that automatically determine a drawing order that is not based on the time of creation.